Tag Archives: hard work is the magic

March 30, 2016 · 8:29 PM

It’s Only JV

I left the house with purpose of mind. As soon as the local high school baseball practice was over, I’d jump on the field, rake the pitcher’s mound, rake the batter’s box, drag the field for tomorrow’s home JV baseball game, and get home in time to eat dinner with my wife. Thirty minutes…tops. Life has been a little crazy lately so I thought nobody would really mind if we just did the basic field prep work and went home. I told myself it was only a JV game. Get the field playable and forget all the bells and whistles of a normal varsity home game.

We finished the mound. We finished the batter’s box. I ran the finish drag around with the mower while RC hand-watered the pitcher’s mound and batter’s box. Well, it was only a JV game. 90-minutes later, I am raking the limestone track around the backstop with the new sprinkler laying down a fine spray of water on the dry-as-a-bone dirt and I pause to look at my watch. 90-minutes. Yeah, I missed dinner with my poor wife.

I continued to rake until everything was in its pre-game place.

I know it’s only JV game, but there is no “only”.

Every game matters. Every game is important.

A game deserves the very best of what we can give.

Every play, every pitch, every possession.

Life is like a JV game. It’s not often in the spotlight. It is not all glory. It is work. It is getting better every minute of every day. It is giving your best even though the crowd is small and nobody seems to really be paying attention.

This environment is where you get better. Get better at your game, your art, your career, your very human-ness.

Put your time in. Do your very best. And then wake up and do your very best tomorrow.

Hard work is the magic.

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October 29, 2015 · 6:21 PM

The Work Necessary

The Kansas City Royals are 2015 American League Champions!

The Boys in Blue are in the World Series against the New York Mets!

But a weird thing happened the morning after they won the ALCS over Toronto. Instead of waking up 100% joyful and ready to roll for the Series, I woke up thinking about two plays from ALCS Game 6 and how these two plays spotlight the value of coaches doing the work necessary for their players.

  1. When Alex Rios stole second base against David Price, a left-handed pitcher who allows unbelievably few stolen bases when he is on the mound.
  2. When Lorenzo Cain scored the game-winning run from first base on Eric Hosmer’s double down the right field line.

Both plays, at face value, look totally like big plays made through the exceptional speed and athleticism of those two athletes. But if you look closer, listen to the announcer comments, and the postgame interviews of players and coaches, you begin to see a whole different story.

True, Alex Rios and Lorenzo Cain are two incredibly gifted athletes but that is not what gave them the advantage and confidence to execute those clutch plays on one of the biggest stages of their sport.

What gave both players the edge was the hard work and analysis of the coaches and advanced scouting department.

Yeah. Coaching matters, scouting matters, preparation matters. Hard work IS the magic. Although both plays look to be just a couple of plays of guys running, the amount of time and effort—film study, the scouting report from the scouts following the Blue Jays for the past few months, transfer of that information to the player—are staggering.

Case One – Rios steals second base on a jump he takes off of the first movement home by David Price. Price is difficult to steal on. He’s left handed and although he doesn’t have a great move, he has a quick slide-step delivery which makes it hard for the runner to get an aggressive lead or jump. Scouting appears to have picked up on a tendency for him to sometimes forget about the runner and not give him a “look” when he’s going to pitch the ball to his catcher. For several pitches, he peeks to Rios before delivery to home. On this particular pitch, he doesn’t peek or look to first base and goes straight home, Rios runs on Price’s first movement and is safe with a stolen base–the VERY FIRST stolen base allowed by David Price ALL YEAR. Rios did not end up scoring, but it was a blow to the confidence level of the Blue Jays and added to the pile of things they had to think about.

Scouting, picking up on tendencies, AND being able to relay those details to the player = Makes the game looks easy.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/28898650/v525581583

Case Two – Royals third base coach Mike Jirshele and the scouts studied Toronto’s exceptional right fielder, Jose Bautista. They noticed he often fields a ball down the right field line and spins to throw the ball by turning his back toward the infield instead of opening up frontside where he would be able to see the infield all the time. They also noticed he almost always wheels to the blindside and throws the relay to the shortstop positioned around second base.

Coach Jirshele planned on taking advantage of this if, and when, the situation arose. Well, it arose. In fact not only were the players coached this during practices and meetings, but they were given a refresher before game six AND Coach Jirshelle revisited this with Cain and Hosmer BEFORE the inning even started since they were due to bat.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/135309324/v525692683

Preparation works.

As a coach, when you watch hours and hours of film or live action, you begin to see patterns. When you rewind and watch a play over and over a dozen times or more, the structure patterns emerge. These patterns become tendencies when put together and analyzed.

  • Tendencies allow a coach to focus preparation.
  • Tendencies allow a coach to focus teaching.
  • Tendencies allow a coach to give his players an edge.

The word “Coach” must be used as a verb, rather than just as a noun. 

As a coach, do the work necessary to put your team in a position to succeed.

Hard work is the magic.

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June 20, 2015 · 8:06 PM

Be Indelible

I used to confuse the word indelible with the word inedible. So when I’d see a permanent marker with “Indelible Ink” printed on it, I’d think, “No $#@!, Sherlock! Who would want to eat a Sharpie anyway?”

Now I’m slightly smarter…well, enough smarter to know that inedible and indelible are completely different things. Indelible means to make a lasting mark—it means that something will not be forgotten or removed.

I like that.

Indelible.

I want to coach and develop indelible athletes.

I want to produce indelible writing.

I want to make an indelible impact on my communities.

I want to be indelible.

MarkerParticipate or Compete?
As an athlete, or as part of any organization, which are you choosing to be?

The participant shows up most of the time and, more often than not, jumps into the wagon to go for the ride.

The competitor is the one who pulls the wagon and makes everyone around them better. The competitor is the very definition of indelible. The competitor is never satisfied with their current efforts and performances. A competitor does the things the participator refuses to do.

What does a competitor do? Well, in high school sports, in my opinion, the competitor is the athlete who puts in the extra offseason work to improve at least 4 or 5 days a week.

  • Baseball – 50 throws & catches, 50 swings, 50 ground balls/pop-ups.
  • Football – Explosive power development, 25 starts and footwork reps, routes, and throws.
  • Basketball – 250+ shots a day, ball-handling skills, explosive power development.
  • Tennis, golf, volleyball, etc. – All need skills reps

All In
I am a firm believer in playing multiple sports and being involved in multiple activities, hobbies, etc. But, the work and the commitment to all these activities requires a monumental effort. The key is to, as the wonderful Mrs. Hays often says about life and work and parenting, “Be present.” Pay attention to the needs of the situation staring you in the face. Focus 100% on the task at hand and not 60% with the other 40% worrying about the next activity on you agenda.

Be Present = Go All In

Whatever you do in life, go all in. Jump into the fray feet first with a fully-focused effort. Don’t straddle the border with one foot in and one foot out. Hit the accelerator and give your drive and desire full throttle to make your world a better place.

That is the very meaning of indelible.

Go all in.

Compete, don’t just participate.

Leave a lasting mark.

Be Indelible

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March 18, 2015 · 7:56 PM

Rowing or Riding?

Which athlete are you? The one who rows the boat or the one who simply rides along?

I read an interesting blog post today from Seth Godin called Along for the Ride that reminded me of this aspect of team sports dynamics.

“How long have you been along for the ride? When is your turn to actually drive?”

As a player or a coach, these questions should be a constant in your development.

  • When is it your time to step up?
  • Did you miss it?
  • Did you ignore it?
  • Do you want nothing to do with it?

We are seeing an increase in younger athletes getting on the varsity sports field. Freshman, sophomores are being thrown into key team roles.  I have also noticed a trend where these same young players are thrown into the fire often don’t seem to get much better.

They are as good when they walk out the door as they were when they walked in.

These kids get put on the boat as riders and never develop into rowers.

Athletes need to eventually take the responsibility of driving the team train. Experience and leadership can’t ride the train. Experience and leadership need to be the drivers.

It’s your turn to step up.

It’s your turn to row.

Be what you are meant to be.

Out work. Out hustle. Out perform. Every day.

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December 15, 2014 · 6:40 AM

Purpose

“The problem with plans created by committees is that they are built on vague. That’s because vague is safe, and no one ever got in trouble for failing to meet a vague plan. But vague is singularly unhelpful when it’s time to make a hard decision.”     -Seth Godin

When you make a plan, have a purpose. Formulate a specific goal in mind, a purpose worth striving for, and set out a plan to obtain it. Avoid a general and vague goal by being laser-focused. Whether it’s writing, athletics, academics, careers, community projects, gardening…whatever, put your dreams into a solid, tangible goal.

Set the plan and do the work.

The sky is the limit.

Take the risk. Failure is possible (probable), but keep trying.

Sounds simple, huh?

Hard work is the magic.

CC@Abilene2009

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November 1, 2014 · 5:07 PM

Fill the Bottle

Your football season is over earlier than everyone wished it would be. A disappointing last loss. These things happen. Only one team per division finishes the season with a significant victory. One. Other than that, the rest of the players and coaches feel the stinging venom of defeat.

For high school football seniors, this pain is sharp. 95% of them will never play football again. 100% will never enjoy the camaraderie and pure joy of playing with their hometown peers, for hometown coaches, in front of hometown fans. Football for the few who are fortunate enough to move on to play collegiately will find it becomes more like a job and the innocence of the game fades.

The emotional aspect of a senior playing his final high school football game may seem petty in importance, but I’ve consoled many 6′ 3″, 250-pound linemen as they sobbed uncontrollably after they lost that final game and the reality of the end hits them like a ton of bricks. For many of these kids, it is the first time they have experienced loss at this level of emotion. If you have a senior, or know a senior, in this position, give them a hug. They deserve it no matter what their won-loss record was.

For the underclassman and for the coaching staff, that final loss also hurts. You are done. After a year of planning and working and practicing and playing, there are no more opportunities until next season. There is a letdown and probably a sense of failure. If the season went better than expected, there’s a consolation of hope. If the season fell below expectations, there’s often a firestorm of distraction.

What comes next?

Coaches and returners need to collect all the disappointment and the sting of failure. They need to collect the venom, that poison which burns your pride/your attitude/your confidence, bottle it up, and then seal it tight with a stopper.

Why?

Because you want to keep that bad taste around as a reminder of how bad this feels right after that final loss. You want to save that feeling to drive you through the next 365 days of preparation for next season.

Coaches need a place that bottle of nasty feelings onto their desk to fuel a deep, top to bottom, and HONEST analysis of every aspect of the program. From the daily approach and philosophy to tweaking the offensive and defensive schemes to best fit the returning roster, all the way to implementing the strength and conditioning programs necessary to physically, mentally, and emotionally develop each player so they will be ready to fill those defined roles to the next season.

Returning players, you have the toughest role. You can’t just forget how bad you feel right now. You can’t forget the pain and disappointment eating away at you after this last loss. You will, though. You are young and you have the ability to turn your back on the reality of what just happen and assume a rosy outlook to the future.

Believe me, you do. In a couple of weeks, you will move forward to the next thing which crosses your path. That’s why you NEED this bottle of nastiness more than anyone. You need to pull that bottle down every day, uncork the bottle, and drink one drop.

Every day, without fail.

You need to feel that drop of disappointment burn as it makes its way to your gut and reminds you of that moment when your season came screeching to a halt. You need that drop to remind you to work harder and to realize changes must be made.

That daily dose of a reminder will help you:

  • Get out of bed and to the weight room on the days you feel like sleeping in.
  • Work harder than everybody else.
  • Accept your role and do it to the best of your ability.
  • Be a leader, every day and in every way.
  • Develop into a player willing and able to carry the team on your shoulders.

Never give up and never give in to the disappointment of a loss. Approach everything with purpose, pride, and passion fueled by the fire of that pain which follows the final loss of the year. The loss pain you probably feel in your gut right now.

To the coaches and players whose football season is finished for 2014, thank you for your efforts this season. Learn from this past year, rethink everything you are doing, and attack next season with a new energy starting right now.

Get better, one day at a time.

Get better, one painful memory sip at a time.

Everybody gets better, every day.

(Coaches included.)

small-round-glass-bottles-with-corks-8-5-oz-pack-of-12-5

 

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January 15, 2014 · 8:15 PM

Sometimes…

Sometimes you do all the right things and still fail.
Sometimes you work hard and still sit the bench.
Sometimes you study until your brain explodes and still bomb the test.
Sometimes you practice and practice and practice but still strike out.
Sometimes you squeeze words to paper and they still sound like donkey doo.
Sometimes you give it all you got and it takes all you have, then laughs.

Keep working, stay true.

There will be a time you will win.
A time you’ll play and dominate.
A test score of an “A”.
A screaming line drive you hit into the gap with baseball loaded.
A story that rings true and honest.
A time when you give it all you got and get back more than you need.

You can’t hit the ball if you don’t swing the bat.

Hard work is the magic.

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December 18, 2013 · 8:18 PM

450

Keep moving. The key to getting better at something is to keep moving. Move forward, move backward, move, move, move.

What drives you to get better? Are you motivated by extrinsic factors, like awards, medals, or trophies?

Or are you motivated by intrinsic factors, like a desire to be the best you can be or an unquenchable will to win?

Whichever motivates you, keep moving. Keep pushing forward with the realization there will be the occasional backward move from the inevitable failure that comes with pushing the limits of your ability.

In football, we used to talk a lot in the off-season and preseason about the “450”. We tried to get the kids motivated by the “450”.

450?

Here is kind of how the rant usually went:

“We have 9 scheduled games. That’s 9 teams we know we have to play. Let’s say each of those teams is about like us and has around 50 kids on their varsity squad. Do the math, 9 teams times 50 kids = 450 kids. That’s around 450 people who will wake up this morning with the desire to kick your ass on the field of play. 450 people who are probably working their tails off right now, as we speak, to get better. 

So when you’re debating whether or not you’re going to get out of bed for workout, remember the 450 players who want to defeat you. When you are deciding whether you want to put in full effort today or just put it in cruise control, remember those 450. They are out there, so you better be doing the work in here.

It’s not enough to be the best in our locker room, it’s all about being better than the 450.”

So, it’s winter and the new year approaches. The perfect time to start the work. Beat your “450”.

Whether it’s your art, your sport, or your career, keep moving. Turn up the heat on yourself and push your boundaries. Find your own “450” for motivation.

Don’t settle; be what you dream.

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November 20, 2013 · 8:08 PM

Freaking Ready

Take Me Out to the Ball Game
“Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don’t care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.”

It has been years since I’ve been this close to baseball this late through autumn and into winter. A long time. Too long, maybe.

The fever didn’t die this year when the World Series trophy was safely tucked into its new home in Boston. Perhaps it is the warm weather, perhaps it is something calling and pulling me in the direction of baseball.

Something pulling at me which has always been there. Every year, every fall, beckoning me like it did when I was a kid.  Calling for me to come back every year, but left alone with its voice echoing off the barren canyon as I pursued other endeavors. Maybe.

Maybe I’ll get the bat out of the closet and take some swings in the garage. Oil down the glove with some shaving cream, or work on the power curveball by throwing the ball into the sofa. Baseball.

Keep rolling along football, I’ll still be your fan. Hurry on your way basketball, make way for pitchers and catcher.

I think that is Spring I hear in the air. Then again, it could be Kiel Unruh’s first (and only) home run shot finally returning to Mother Earth.

Unruh Home Run Ball

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August 25, 2013 · 4:04 PM

Step By Step

Everybody wants to win.

It’s human nature.

What distinguishes success from failure if we all initially desire the same thing? In other words, how did we get to the results we got?

It’s the staircase philosophy.

Huh?

Think of a long flight of stairs. My own visual staircase is an isolated utilitarian concrete set of stairs anchored to the ground in the middle of nowhere. Now visualize a shiny, rather gargantuan gold trophy at the top. This is the victory, the goal which is the pinnacle of your chosen endeavor. When you reach that top step, you’ll sit down next to that golden trophy and put your arm around it like it’s your best friend in the whole world. It’s Nirvana.

Here’s the problem that separates the “everybody wants to win” people from the winners. You have to start at the start. You have to start at the bottom of the stairs and work your way up one stair at a time.

The first step is not so bad. It’s usually just a simple hop up.

The second step is a little higher and it takes more skill to climb.

And so on and so on…

Until you get to those final few steps. These steps are the separators, these are the monster steps. Hard work is the magic on these steps. The prize is within reach, you can almost taste it.. One must decide on doing the work and making the sacrifices to make the next level or stay and give up.

PlainStairs

Successful folks understand the staircase philosophy. Constant work builds upon a solid foundation each step of the way. There are no shortcuts. A lot of money is spent on magic bullets and pills and supplements trying to find a shortcut.

There are no shortcuts.

It’s like learning the alphabet. We didn’t learn “A” and jump right to “Z”. Too many people want to make a grab for the “Z” right off the bat. It doesn’t work that way.

It is a methodical learning curve, A to B to C to D…, one letter at a time, all the way to Z. It’s like Mrs. Hays is often (always) saying, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”

A wonderful group of local Clay County people are starting a project to bring life back into our baseball field, Kelly Campbell Field. We are going to follow the staircase philosophy. We are going to work our way up to have a playable small town high school baseball field. We are going to follow a staircase philosophy while being extremely financially responsible and respectful.

(So, if you see folks working on Kelly Campbell Field, thank them for their effort. And, if you find yourself with an extra dollar in your pocket, I’m sure the Clay Center Parks & Recreation Committee can find a good use for each dollar designated to Campbell Field.)

Everybody wants to win. Winning is a way of doing business, a way of life.

The joy is in the journey. The joy is climbing one step at a time. The is earning your way to the next step.

Step by step.

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